Changing opiods

[Trish8433]

I have severe restless legs and have suffered for many years

Recently I came off pramipexole, after augmentation. I am now on Targin 40 mg daily, 15mg at 2pm and 25mg at 8pm. I still suffer from restless legs early in the morning, however it is far less intense. Having read many comments re the benefits of buprenorphine on this site, I recently spoke with my specialist. He is potentially agreeable for me to change opiods but is unaware of the process of substituting buprenorphine for the targin.

Does anyone have any experience of changing these two opiods.

I am very fortunate in Australia to have a very understanding Dr.

[Joolsg]

Very simple. Straight swap overnight. Don't take your morning dose of Targinact and take Buprenorphine around 9pm.

Start with 0.4mg and if you get any breakthrough RLS the next morning or early evening, split the dose and take 0.2mg at 9pm and 0.2mg at 11pm or midnight.

I went from 25mg Oxycontin to 0.4mg Buprenorphine sub lingual pills.Have some medical cannabis or zofran ready. Buprenorphine causes nausea for many people for the first few weeks.

[Madlegs1]

The reason you are experiencing RLS in the morning is because you are not taking opioids evenly over the 24 hrs.

You are suffering mini withdrawal symptoms.

By all means change to buprenorphine, but don't be blaming your current medications for your doctors bad practice.

Good luck.

[LotteM]

I second Jools. I also made a straight swap from oxycontin (Targin is oxycontin plus nalexone) to buprenorphine. Worked wonders. Blissful sleep. Almost unbelievable.

Dosing as recommended Joolsg seems fine, I was on lower oxycontin and buprenorphine doses. Just want to add: if one 0.4mg buprenorphine is not enough, add half pills instead of whole ones. You can use a sharp knife or ask the pharmacist for a pill cutter. Always best to find the lowest effective dose.

Oh, and yes, I had that too on oxycontin, what Madlegs described about mini-withdrawal in the morning. Hence the need to switch to an opioid with far longer half life. I also had it on the buprenorphine pills, but my dose was lower (0.2mg). Hopefully the doctor agree and then see how it goes. Good luck!

[wildlegs]

hi Trish I’m Mike, 80, from the USA. I’ve had RLS for 25 plus years. I’ve had great results with Tramadol but doctors here are hesitant about giving me Tramadol because it’s an opioid. I now take one mg of pramipexole and 100 mg of Tramadol , for two years now, and the results are great no more RLS and no side effects. I hear from our fellow readers that when I go off I’ll have terrible problems. But at 80 I’ve got no plans of getting off of something that works for me. Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

[Bantamdyno]

have you seen my posts🤔

[Trish8433]

Thanks so much for comments everyone. It is so beneficial to have information to discuss with the Dr.

Re my current times to take targin. We did lots of experimenting to see how to make the drug work. Taking it at 2pm and 8pm provided the best coverage with only limited breakthrough Rls. By taking targin 12 hrs apart (or breaking into smaller amounts and more frequent times)I had much more severe symptoms . Will let you know the outcome once I meet with the Dr again.

The support from this group has kept me sane. Thank you. I wonder why a similar, or offshoot group, has not been established in Australia?

[Bantamdyno in reply to Trish8433]

Hi, see my posts if you want to control rls🤔

[Trish8433 in reply to Bantamdyno]

Thank you. I have read your posts. The issue with restless legs is although some treatments work for most, many only help a few. Like you I have tried many things over 40 years, until now, I am on opiods and anti depressants. This provides more control than I have had for years where my restless legs was all over my body and severe, all night, every night. I NEVER want to go there again.Inflamation and burning have been a big issue over the past two years but I have this mainly controlled by rose hip tablets, interestingly prescribed by by medical specialist.

[Bantamdyno in reply to Trish8433]

Yes but have you found the triga paints🤔

[Trish8433]

Dear all, especially Joolsg and LotteM. Not as easy as I thought it would be, especially in Australia, changing from Targin (40mg per day) to buprenorphine.

Did you mean patches or tablets? Also should the buprenorphine include Naloxone?

I am still waiting to hear back from my specialist but just want to have as much information as possible.

It is always so scary changing medication with Severe restless legs as I am sure you are all very aware of.

Many thanks for your help and support.